John Rush takes you on a musical journey like no other one-man show can. Singing and playing guitar/bass/harmonica/piano/ saxophone/banjo/keyboard and percussion John Rush plays his own original music and songs you know. If you think you've seen this before, you're wrong. John Rush is not just another singer/songwriter! Wowing audiences with his guitar work and capturing them with his voice and lyrics John Rush won Campus Activities Magazine Entertainer of the Year and Campus Awards Musician of the Year!

John Rush has a much larger sound than most solo musicians. Taking a unique approach, John performs with the help of a loop machine that allows him to record a guitar "loop" on the fly and then play lead, bass, harmonica, piano, and percussion over it. John beats on his guitar, plays bass lines, and expressive guitar leads that impress the most critical listeners. This allows him to sound like a whole band even though it's just John and a guitar. "I do this all live," says John. "People always ask me if this is prerecorded music, but it's not. I think if you go hear live music it should be live. I rely on my own ability to perform; the technical effects are only there to enhance what I do."

Originally from Huntsville, Alabama, John first learned to play guitar at the age of twelve. After playing in jazz and rock bands through high school John went to Athens, Georgia on a classical guitar scholarship to the University of Georgia. After leaving Georgia John moved to Nashville, TN where he quickly became a must-see show in the bar scene before taking his show on the road.

Averaging more than 200 dates a year, John Rush is making a name for himself in the college campus and club circuit. With a set list that covers more than 600 songs and over 150 different groups, John Rush plays Original and/or Cover depending upon what the audience requests. John has been called a " Human iPod " because he can play more than 55 hours of music upon request!

John's powerfully dynamic voice makes you feel he's lived every song he sings and John's guitar style is a cross between Stevie Ray Vaughan and Mark Knopfler.

John has released 3 CDs to date. His critically acclaimed debut CD, They Don't Know My Name, features two tracks from the soundtrack to the film Autumn and Everything After. John's second CD, Songs From The Road, is a compilation of live recordings. John's third and most recent CD, Always Touring, shows John's talents as a songwriter while highlighting his skills a guitarist and has been called "A Must Buy CD" and "A Great Find" by critics.

John says, "I write some songs with some real depth to them, but my goal as a performer is to help people have a good time. If I'm lucky maybe I can make them think a little during the process."

An Interview with John Rush

1. Name?
John Rush

2. Birth Day? Sign?
July 3rd - Cancer

3. Where were you born?
Huntsville, AL

4. School history?
Mrs. Shan's kindergarten (Huntsville, AL)
1,2 East Clinton (Huntsville, AL)
3,4,5,6 Riverton (Huntsville, AL)
7,8 Huntsville Middle (Huntsville, AL) (Notice a trend here?)
9,10,11,12 Huntsville High (Huntsville, AL)
3 1/2 years University of Georgia (Athens, GA)
I still have about 20 hours to go, but what would I be doing with a classical guitar degree anyway?

c: Who are the best local bands you've seen?
Stacey Mitchart and the Blues You Can Use Band - Nashville, TN
David Anderson - Huntsville, AL
Dean Hall - Nashville, TN

6. How long have you played guitar? Any other instruments?
Started guitar at age 12. After two years teaching myself I started classical guitar lessons. While taking classical guitar I started jazz lessons and continued both until I left for college where I majored in classical guitar performance at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA.

Age 10 - String Bass - I was the only one that was willing to try it. I didn't know that trying it meant I would be playing it. I just thought she wanted a volunteer. I was stuck with playing bass in the school orchestra.
Age 10 - Clarinet - I wanted to play the sax but we had a clarinet so once again I was stuck playing the clarinet in the band while playing the bass in the orchestra.
Age 12 - Guitar - My real love. My brother Ray gave me this old crappy electric and then I played my dad's acoustic. Aubrey Scarbrough gave me my first classical guitar that he bought for 2 dollars. We glued the back together and put a set of 10 dollar strings on it. I played it for the next two years.
Age 21 - Vocals - I never thought of myself as a singer then it just kind of came to me. I was working in a bar in Huntsville and they needed someone to play for the Christmas party. Jed Murphree, Brent White, and I played as many songs as we knew (not many). After that I started playing there solo once a week.
Age 27 - Harmonica - David Greer gave ma a set of harmonicas when I was playing in Nashville and said, "Somebody should play them. I can't." So I started playing harmonica.

7. How do you remember so many songs?
I've always just had a good memory. The guitar parts are all pretty easy to remember because I hear the melody in my head but the lyrics are the hard part. I picture them as a story and if I can see the story, I can sing the song.
8. Have you always played solo? Any bands?
I was in an acoustic jazz band called Elgin while in high school. They were all older and ready to go on the road for real. I wanted to go to college so I left the band. I've played with a lot of musicians off and on but I never found the band that I was really looking for. I love playing with other musicians, especially good musicians, but I think I've just been spoiled for too long by myself. There's just so much freedom. I can do whatever I want and I don't have to rely on people who may or may not be reliable.

9. Where do you live now?
I just moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Nashville was nice but now that I'm touring I can live where ever I want. My wife's family lives there. Elisa travels with me often, but when I'm gone she needs family near.

10. Why did you go to Nashville, you're not country?
Once again I just kind of stumbled into it. I was working for a restaurant and they needed people to open a new store in Nashville. I went up as a trainer and then just stayed there. Of course it didn't hurt that my wife (just starting to date at the time) was a manager for the same restaurant.
I didn't really know what I was going to do, but it made more sense than Huntsville, AL. Everyone told me you can't make money playing in Nashville, but they were wrong. People are often intimidated by Nashville because there are so many musicians. You just have to get out there and play. I guess it helped that I wasn't country.

12. What would you say to someone just starting guitar?
Practice --- then practice some more.
The difference between a bad guitarist and an ok guitarist is ---- practice.
The difference between an ok guitarist and a good guitarist is --- practice.
The difference between a good guitarist and a great guitarist is --- practice.
The difference between a great guitarist and a truly phenomenal guitarist like Chet Atkins or Steve Via is a little bit of true talent to start with and a lot of practice.

13. What is the key to being successful?
Figure out what you're willing to do for free. Then find a way to get paid doing it.

14. What do you think about file sharing and downloading music?
If it's a band or artist that you believe in and you want to support their ability to keep making music then you have to buy the CD. I charge $10 for my CD and I think it's a fair price to pay. It takes a lot of work to write and produce a CD and you have the ability to listen to it as many times as you want. We pay up to $8.50 to see a movie and we only get to see it once.

However,
if you see someone on "Cribs" or any other show and they are flashing all the money they waste and flaunting their ability to piss away the hard earned money of the people who bought their CD, don't listen to their music and definitely DON'T BUY THEIR CD! I don't promote theft of music, but if I see another asshole acting like he's so cool because he can use diamonds as ice cubes or spend 2.1 MILLION DOLLARS (Baby had a necklace made for him that cost $2.1 million) on crap they don't need, I might start. 2.1 MILLION DOLLARS could sponsor 140,000 kids through Feed The Children for a month or 11,666 kids for a whole year!

The way I see it is if you download my CD and give it to someone that would not have bought it otherwise - great! If you are burning it for someone who would have bought the CD if you hadn't given it to them - not cool. I believe in downloading music and then when you find artists you like, buying their CD - especially independent artists. I can download lots of music for free but I make a real effort to support artists and bands that I like and respect. Some that I recommend are Jonny Lang, Marc Knopfler, and Steve Earle. These guys are not needing money but I appreciate what they do. They are making songs that move me and inspire me and I feel obligated to support it.

I think we are going to see an increase in concert prices that is directly related to downloading. That sucks because they are already too high. I love Paul Simon's music but I checked into getting tickets and the cheapest nose-bleed seat was $55. The upper-middle section which still wasn't great seats was $125 and to get seats anywhere on the floor was $250. That's before all the bull-shit fees that they add on. I don't know if it's Paul Simon or Ticketmaster but that's just wrong. Paul Simon doesn't need money. He's already paid a ton of money for doing something that he loves to do. The only reason he's able to do it at all is because we (his fans) have already spent our money buying his CDs. I could afford to go to the show if I wanted to but I chose not to. It really pissed me off. Maybe he gives a lot to charity. I don't know. I make a good living doing what I love to do and I feel extremely lucky and thankful.